Luke 18 records Jesus' parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector who both went down to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed: "God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." Basically, this guy was taking a selfie without a cellphone.

In contrast, the tax collector stood at a distance, not in a prominent place like the Pharisee, and he beat his chest saying: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Do you remember that story of the young executive from my first post on Failing Forward? Like the tax collector, he had made huge mistakes; he was guilty and he knew it. Unlike the self-righteous Pharisee, the tax collector and the young executive were open to correction, to change, and thus had the ability to fail forward. Consider this: Discerning managers are more likely to advance their workers to the next level when they see that they are open to correction and advice. In contrast, those who think they have already arrived and exhibit over-confidence are setting themselves up for real failure.

Who you would rather have working in your company or organization: Those who are always proclaiming their good qualities or those who know how much further they need to go?

Serving leaders love working with those who are willing to learn, develop, and fail forward. Empowering them to take a certain amount of risk, serving leaders will pick them up when they fail, helping them turn failures into stepping stones toward success.

Jesus led His disciples through their failures, never giving up on them. He helped them fail forward so that one day they could go out and turn the world upside down (see Acts 17:6). So lead, love, and serve like Jesus by providing grace-filled, failing-forward environments, and you too can have an incredible impact on your family, your co-workers, and everyone who follows you.